Dangerous And Moving
by ShinigamiMailJeevas
Summary: Before WSF, ever wonder how 4 year old Matt met Mello at Wammys? Why he wears stripes and goggles, or how he got into games? This is a three shot of those events. Set in the 'We Sleep Forever' universe.
1. Part One: Whammys

**Disclaimer**: I don't own Death Note

**An:** This is SO much LONGER than I had ever anticipated. I thought, hey why not a short oneshot of how Matt got to Whammys (spawned from a line in my fic JNRR where Matt reminisces about first seeing the orphanage)? Yeah...... Matt hijacked my brain and ran away with the keyboard.... enjoy?

**Suggested Listening**: Misery Loves Company **by **The Red Jumpsuit Apparatus

**Part one: **_Whammys _

"You remember what we discussed, correct?" the old man, known as Mr. Whammy, asked. He was kind, but Mail couldn't really trust him. Adults in general couldn't be trusted. No matter how kind they seemed…

"That my new name is Matt." He said while fidgeting slightly under the constant gaze. He didn't like to be looked at. The only time his father had ever looked at him was when he hurt him.

That was why he was sitting in the nice car all dirty and covered in blood with cuts and bruises. Was he bad for not crying over his father? For… being almost happy he was dead?

"That's right. Are you ready Matt, we are here."

Green eyes looked up hesitantly and glanced out the window. He sat up straighter and his eyes were wide. The place was… it was huge! It had an enormous front yard, where children were currently playing. This was where he would be staying? He looked over at Mr. Whammy, who did nothing more than smile at him, before turning back to the orphanage.

Mr. Whammy exited the car once it came to a stop and held the door open for Matt patiently.

Would it be safe here… in such a big place?

But Matt was so curious. What type of children would be here? He knew they were all smart, geniuses like him, but would they… could he make friends? He'd never had one before…

Carefully, so as to not injure himself more, he climbed out of the car and stood on the gravel walkway. The door was shut again, and after a moment's hesitation, he followed the older man.

Inside… was just as large and seemed almost imposing to his small figure. He hunched over slightly, wanting to feel more protected.

They walked through many hallways and passed many doors before stopping just outside of a large room. From what Matt could see, it was the infirmary. "Go on inside. The nurse is waiting for you, she will take care of all of your cuts and give you some new clothes to wear."

Matt looked up quickly. Mr. Whammy was… leaving?

He supposed he should have expected that, it wasn't like he could stay the entire time. And it wasn't like he was comfortable around the man, he had just been... familiar. Well, more familiar than this strange new place he was at.

He glanced back at Mr. Whammy before slowly, almost shuffling, walking inside. He had almost expected doors to slam shut and people to be laughing at his idiocy for even thinking of trusting someone. Well, maybe not _trust,_ going along with?

He kept his head down, but was still able to make not of everything and everyone in the room. It was a new environment and he didn't want to be caught unawares. It was a lesson he had learned all too painfully...

"Oh hello dear, you must be Matt!" he flinched at the sound of her voice even though he had seen her coming towards him. She seemed to take a long time just looking him over, not touching, not even asking questions, just looking.

_Mail _hated it.

But he was Matt now... so was_ he_ not supposed to care now?

"You need to take a shower and be somewhat clean before I can even properly disinfect and bandage anything." the nurse had her lips pressed into a thin line as she walked off and into what he assumed was some sort of supply closet.

She returned with a small pile of clothing nestled in her arms. "Follow me, we have a small bathroom in here for just these occasions, as well as for the use of the children who are stuck in here." she said with a small laugh though he wasn't sure what part had been funny.

"Take as long as you need, and if I am not in sight when you get out then wait for me in that office, ok?" she gestured towards a closed door across the room. Matt nodded and took the clothes offered.

He wondered idly, as he closed and locked the door behind him, why they were keeping clothes like these in that closet. Did... children come here with situations like his? Enough that they needed to keep clothing on hand? Or was it for the use of those stuck in the infirmary?

Matt shook his head; he didn't need to think of such useless things right now.

Placing the clothing on the sink he paused when he noted how he hadn't been given any sort of towel. Looking around in the bathroom, that he would not have called small, he noticed a closet. Upon opening it he found it lined with hand towels and larger full body ones.

Grabbing one of the latter ones he added it to the pile on the sink.

There was a bathtub as well as a shower, but Matt didn't feel like dealing with a tub at the moment though it may have relaxed him somewhat.

The shower was mainly a nozzle protruding from the wall and a small step on the floor to keep the water contained. There was no rod or shower curtain. With the other oddities of the place, he didn't know why he had expected one.

He turned the water on and left it at an almost scalding temperature.

Carefully, with a shaking hand, he began to peal off his soiled clothes. His pants had come off rather easily but his shirt had been a problem. Blood had dried to his cuts making the shirt stick to him, and rather painful to get off.

But he managed it without much more than a few small pained whimpers.

Once devised of all clothing he stepped under the spray of hot water and thoroughly cleaned himself using the various hygiene products littered neatly about small indentations in the wall. Feeling better than he had in a while, much more clean and refreshed, he turned the water off and dried himself.

Most of his cuts had stopped bleeding and wouldn't need any more attention than had already been given to them; however the ones on his arms and lower back probably needed something more.

Other than that, Matt thought he'd gotten out of the situation fairly intact if compared to other times. But you wouldn't find many scars from those times, his father knew better than to leave them. Bruises and broken bones healed, but anything that left a scar wasn't done.

The jeans were a bit loose on him, and too big as they bunched at his feet. The shirt was long sleeved with black and white stripes, he kind of like it. It was… different.

He slipped his old shoes back on and with the dirtied clothes in his arms left the now warm bathroom. He spotted the nurse almost immediately; she was tending to a boy whose nose was swollen and bleeding.

"You will be fine, I don't think he managed to break it too badly." the nurse finished up with the boy before her and sighed heavily before noticing Matt. "Done already? Oh my..." Matt knew what she was referring to. Now that he was clean he knew it was easy to spot the bruises on him since he was so pale.

"Lets get you looked at then." she guided him over to the back of the room and pulled a curtain over to block them from view. Matt was grateful, he was uncomfortable enough as it was and didn't want to be on display.

Thankfully for him everything had gone quickly, with only the cuts on his back and arms needing to be bandaged.

"You will need to be seeing Rodger soon, just take a left out of here and follow it all the way down and take a right and you will see his office." the nurse seemed reluctant to let him go, and he wondered why. Wasn't he only supposed to be there until he was all fixed up?

He nodded to the nurse and did as he was told. He wondered if he would be getting more new clothes, and if he would be allowed to pick them. That would be cool.

As he approached the office he could hear yelling coming from inside, one of them was a rather young voice while the other was older, probably Rodger. Who Mr. Whammy had explained, managed the place.

"Mello, I'm tired of this. You are on chocolate restriction for a week, and you will be nice to your new roommate. If I find out otherwise you will never see another bar of chocolate again until you leave." the boy, or at least Matt assumed it was a boy, yelled out something in what sounded like another language.

The door was wrenched open and a short haired blond boy rushed out, face red with anger. At least Matt thought it was a boy... he could have been wrong. It was kind of hard to tell from the quick glance he had gotten at the face.

Deciding that it was ok to go in now that the yelling was over, Matt walked in.

"Finished so soon? Well that's fine. It's better to get everything explained now. Sit down." Matt didn't like Rodger's tone. Not at all. It was far too similar....

Matt shook his head. It didn't matter if it were similar or not, he had to pay attention, and it wasn't him Rodger was annoyed at anyway. At least he highly doubted so.

"I am sure Mr. Whammy has explained the very basics of this place, that being that this is an orphanage for geniuses. And that you will all be competing for the title of L." Matt knew who L was.

But he wasn't really sure if he wanted to be L, or even be like him. But if saying so got him kicked out... no. It was best to keep these thoughts hidden. Perhaps, in time, he would want it.

"You have already been tested to get in here, but that alone will not measure your place here-" tests. Mr. Whammy had said something about tests too. And that the education he would receive here would be the absolute best one he would receive.

But Matt had always hated tests. Matt's father had hated having too smart a child. It was impossible for him to hide his genius once it had already been learned of, but it hadn't meant he couldn't purposely make mistakes to keep his true talents hidden.

But here... here he would be able to excel, to shine, if he chose to.

"-scores will be posted weekly outside the dining hall." Matt wondered what it would feel like to be the top student, just once. And maybe that was why everyone wanted to be L. Because being L was being number 1.

"You will have a roommate. Unfortunately it was decided that Mello would be your roommate. If he causes too many problems for you tell me immediately." from the tone of his voice, it seemed like Rodger almost wanted this _Mello_ to get into trouble.

"You will start your classes next week to give you time to adjust." Matt had a feeling that had it been a Monday instead of a Thursday, he would have been starting already.

"Now onto a rather important agenda. You need new clothing." Matt wondered why he made it sound so important, like he was speaking about some life or death situation. "Do you have any preferences?" Matt looked up from his hands and stared at Rodger.

So he _was _allowed to pick.

"I like stripes..." Matt had always liked stripes. Perhaps only because his father had hated them, and in his own childish way he'd wanted to rebel, even just a little. Stripes were soothing though... so maybe he just liked them?

"Stripes?" Rodger had a rather odd look on his face, as though he didn't quite believe him. Matt did little more than nod. He didn't like talking unless he had to, or wanted to. And the latter usually never occurred anymore.

"Is that all?" Matt nodded again making Rodger sigh. "Everything will be here by tomorrow then." that soon? That meant he would be able to change his clothes again sooner than he'd thought... he liked feeling clean. Rodger than stood from his chair, slightly surprising Matt.

"I will show you to your room, if you need to find anything else ask Mello." the way Rodger said this gave Matt the feeling that it would be better for him to find things on his own. Maybe he could ask one of the other children here...?

Doubtful... that would mean he would have to talk to someone. Exploring was supposed to be fun, wasn't it?

Rounding the corner of his desk Rodger set off out of the room without even ensuring that Matt was following.

The hallways were quiet making Matt wonder where everyone else was; if they were still outside or in class or something. He mainly wanted to know what times of day to avoid the hallways.

He was rather small for his age, thin and almost sickly, and was easily missed in crowded areas. It probably didn't help that he was so silent all the time.

Rodger soon stopped outside of a room, which Matt assumed was his new one, and knocked once before entering. "I hope you paid attention to the way here, you might be needing to find your way back soon. Mello will show you to the dining hall once it's dinner." it was all too obvious to Matt that Rodger didn't like children.

What was a man like him doing working as the manager of an orphanage?

Quietly Matt walked into the room and the first thing he noticed was the blonde haired boy from earlier laying on one of the beds. All around his side of the room chocolate wrappers covered the ground, though there was no actual sign of the confection. Meaning that he had actually headed Rodger's words, or it had been taken from him so he had no choice but to obey.

"I don't care what your name is, or who you are. I didn't want a stupid roommate in the first place. I'll take you to dinner and that's it. Got it?" Matt nodded and averted his eyes. It was just his luck that he got stuck with someone like this.

Or perhaps he really was lucky, if Mello kept to his word it meant that he wouldn't be trying to get him to talk all the time. Matt might be lonely, but he was fine on his own....

With nothing to do he sat on the edge of his bed and kicked his legs out gently; though he gained no joy or amusement from the action. It was merely something to occupy the time with, better than trying to count cracks in the walls.

He had no idea how long he'd been sitting there, but the sun had gone down what seemed like hours ago. His concept of time was a bit skewed so it had probably only been a half hour...

Something flying at the side of his head caught his attention. It was a chocolate bar wrapper. Turning his gaze to the side he watched Mello silently.

"Hurry up and follow." Matt wondered if the blonde was always this irritated, or if just had something to do with his chocolate being taken away. With the amount of wrappers everywhere it almost seemed like an addiction.

Matt paid careful attention to every turn they took from their room, he needed to know how to get to the dining hall on his own, as well as back to their room.

"There, I did my job. Now get lost." Mello, with a small sneer planted on his face, stalked off to grab his food.

Matt wasn't sure if this was how all meals were served, in a grand buffet style, but he was sure he'd never seen so much food in his life. He couldn't even name most of them. Knowing that if he ate too much he would only make himself sick, as had happened before, he picked up only small foods and went to find a seat.

Matt suddenly really wished he hadn't gone to dinner.

Everyone was staring at him. He understood that it was because he was new, however....he doubted that was the only reason. Matt was proven correct by an older boy walking up to him, as he attempted to seat himself.

"What's up with that freakish hair? I didn't think they let toddlers dye it." Matt should have expected this place to be just like every other, really, but he had gotten caught up in everything. Every child his age or otherwise had always thought his hair was weird because of how red it was.

It wasn't something he could change either.

Matt ignored the older boy and moved around him to sit at an empty table, which proved to be the wrong thing to do. "Hey don't ignore me!" his loud shout had gathered attention to the two of them, more attention than was already on Matt. Even the teachers monitoring dinner had looked over.

The older boy flushed scarlet for a moment before growling and stalking off, but not before he shot a dirty look at Matt.

Matt wasn't naive enough to think he would be left alone. No... this place _was _just like everywhere else, with the exception that everyone was as smart as he was, or close to it.

And that made it dangerous.

He picked absently at his food, no longer in the mood to eat, but knowing he needed to. Once he'd eaten all he could he left the plate on the table, as he had seen other kids do, he left for his room again.

He didn't have any difficulty finding his way back, and thankfully didn't run into anyone.

His first night at Whammys wasn't filled with fear of the unknown or tears like in some cases. He had nothing to be sad over. He was free from his old life, and from what he could see was better off, with the exception of the other children.

The bed was soft, and clean, and the room warm. Not even the light on over in Mello's side of the room stopped him from falling asleep almost as soon as his head hit the pillow.

When he woke sunlight was burning into his from past his eyelids. The curtains had been closed when he went to bed so he could only figure that Mello had opened them. Out of spite he couldn't yet tell.

The fact that the blonde wasn't in the room either meant he was at breakfast, or at lessons.

A loud knock on the room startled Matt and he had to force himself to relax as he got up to open the door. Rodger was standing outside with a box in his hand.

"I suspected you had slept late, don't get used to it. You would have gotten in trouble for missing your first lesson by now, it's already almost nine." Matt moved out of the way to let Rodger pass, silently pleased with finally knowing the time.

"In here are your clothes as well as books to help you study and a laptop to use for projects." Matt looked at the box in quiet amazement. He was getting so much stuff...

"You can change later; right now I'm going to show you to the kitchens so you can eat something. You are probably hungry by now. And breakfast ends before lessons start at eight." Matt nodded and only pulled on his sneakers, as he had slept fully clothed, before following Rodger out of the room.

As Matt had surmised, the kitchens were close to the dining hall. It wouldn't have made much sense to have to cart all that food across the huge orphanage...

As they entered the large room Rodger spoke. "You will have to make do with a bowl of cold cereal." Matt nodded, though he didn't speak.

Matt was shown to a large island table with tall chairs. A bowl was produced and set in front of one of the chairs while cereal was fished out of a cabinet; he wasn't given a choice as to what.

Matt struggled with getting onto the chair, but managed after nearly tipping it over.

"Just put the dishes into the sink over there when you are done. And don't cause trouble just because you are not in lessons yet. Understand?" Matt nodded and watched silently as Rodger left him once again.

At least he now knew the way to the kitchens.

He ate quickly, not bothering to really taste whatever cereal had been chosen for him, and left the kitchen in haste to take another shower. He had thankfully already found the bathrooms.

He was happy to note how all of his new shirts were striped though more than just black and white. The remaining days before class were spent in much the same manor, though with him exploring the area around his room a bit more.

He hadn't exactly been nervous, going to his first class, more like uneasy. He never really liked too much attention being placed on him and having to stand in the front of the class bothered him. He was lucky that the teacher picked up on at least part of this and didn't draw out his introduction.

Well formal introduction, he had already been seen by many of the children there during mealtimes and in the hallways.

Matt found the work to be easy enough, so he didn't try too hard, wanting more to get acquainted with all the main areas of the building instead. Instead of studying he could be found wandering the halls.

And every time he came back to his shared room, Mello would be at his desk or on his bed, studying. Matt didn't understand it, why the blonde would study so hard to be first, as he was second as Matt discovered.

Matt found that if he relaxed and studied infrequently he retained more information that way... but perhaps that wasn't how other people's minds worked?

He watched Mello study himself into exhaustion; literally falling asleep onto his textbooks night after night. And in Matt's mind, someone that young shouldn't be so obsessed.

But Mello didn't like him so he would never say anything.

After the first day, Mello hadn't so much as said one word to him. He would glare if Matt did something that irritated him, but otherwise didn't pay any attention to him. Well, it did feel like Mello was watching him at times, but Matt was sure he was just staring off into space rather than actually _watching _him.

It was Saturday morning, after his first week, and Matt wandered out of the room by himself. Mello had been gone even before he'd woken up. He didn't know where the blonde had gone until he reached the dining area.

Lots of the children were gathered and stood around a long white sheet of paper that Matt remembered was the rankings. He caught sight of Mello for a moment, but it was only for a second. Just enough time for Mello to narrow his eyes at him and stomp off.

Matt carefully made his way through the crowd and searched for his name, and to his surprise, he was third. He was third and only seven points off of being second. And he hadn't even tried!

Mello was only three points from being first. So did that mean that he could overtake both second and first if he chose to? So why didn't he feel happy about that fact? In fact... he felt rather unhappy about it.

And felt even worse when Mello kept glaring at him for the rest of the day. He hadn't even done anything this time. Unless Mello thought he wanted to take second from him... but he honestly didn't want second_ or_ first.

He got too much attention already and he was only third. The pressure and attention must be much worse at the top to slots, and Matt had no wish to deal with it, even if that meant he would never know what he was truly capable of.

He was still young at any rate. His mind might change later on... though he doubted it.

For the thirtieth time that day Matt felt Mello's eyes on him. With a sigh he shut his book and stood up. All he wanted was to read this book he'd gotten from the library, which was huge, but he got distracted every time those fierce blue eyes stared at him.

"I don't want to be first. Or even second, so you can stop glaring at me. You'll hurt your eyes if you do it too much anyway..." Matt managed to say quietly before he left the room. If Mello did get angry at that, he'd rather not be around for it.

He hoped that Mello would go back to ignoring him, and glaring randomly when he did something the blonde disliked. Thought he'd much rather talk with him despite the obvious dislike Mello held for him.

"Well if it isn't the red-haired freak that took my spot." a voice snarled from his left. Matt had just enough time to look up before something struck him in the mouth. He staggered back and fell to the floor with an almost inaudible cry of pain. He had fallen rather awkwardly on his ankle.

With a small wince he spat out blood and a tooth. It was a good thing that one had been a little loose to begin with...

"What, got nothing to say?" there was no reason for Matt to say anything; it appeared that he was going to be hurt either way. If he was quiet enough, it would end sooner rather than later. It always had before...

"I'm talking to you!" the boy, the same one from his first night at Whammys, kicked him in the stomach. He gasped and curled himself into a ball. It would protect him, somewhat.

He closed his eyes and tried to ignore what was going on around him.

Finally, when the kicks had subsided, he opened his eyes and peaked out from under his arms. It would have been bad if the boy had just been waiting for him to uncurl...

But the boy was gone, and in his place was Mello.

"Why didn't you fight back?" the blonde's head cocked to the side as he nibbled on a piece of chocolate; not a full bar though, more like a quickly stolen prize, as he was still on chocolate restriction.

Matt forced himself into a seated position and leaned against the wall; his head hurt. "Because..." he moved his wrist and winced in pain, though it didn't seem broken.

"They will loose interest if you don't react, if you don't fight back. It's not fun to them if you just lay there." he looked up and found Mello eyeing him with a strange glint in his eyes.

The blue eyes never once blinked, though they did widen and a look of understanding passed quickly across his features. Matt wondered what it was that he had 'understood'.

"Come on, let's get you to the nurse." Mello held out his hand and Matt gave him a very tiny smile and took it.

Mello pulled him to his feet but his ankle protested the movements making him fall leaving the blonde to catch him; holding his arm in a vice like grip while he struggled not to topple them both.

"Mello!" the blonde groaned at the familiar voice. "It's not what it looks like!"

Matt took all of three seconds to process what the scene might look like to Rodger, who seemed naturally suspicious of Mello, as well as knowing what the blonde was capable of. It would appear to an outsider that Mello was in the process of beating him up.

"Mello, I warned you last time-"

"He didn't hurt me." Matt spoke quietly. Rodger stopped talking and stared at him. "You will be removed as his roommate; you don't need to protect him."

"I'm not protecting him; he was only taking me to the infirmary." Matt insisted; his voice a little louder. He wasn't sure why, but he felt a need to stay with the blonde. And if he was moved to a different room that would no longer be possible.

And Mello... Mello seemed _different_.

"Are you sure?" Matt nodded at Rodger.

"It was Rick that did this, I only got here as he was leaving." Mello added, an arm snaking around Matt's waist to hold him up as he slumped a little further down.

Rodger eyed the two of them for a moment longer but finally sighed and shook his head. "I will see to it that Rick is punished if he did indeed do this. I expect you both to turn up at the infirmary." Rodger tried for a stern voice but only ended up sounding exasperated.

Both boys nodded and walked off; neither wanting to spend any more time with the older man.

Matt was silent for most of the walk to the infirmary, lost in his thoughts. Why would someone who seemed to hate him, much to his dismay, do this? Was it just another ploy?

"Why are you helping me?" Matt was genuinely curious, not that he didn't appreciate the help. Mello raised an eyebrow.

"Isn't this what friends are supposed to do? Besides, you obviously can't do this on your own." Matt's eyes widened. "Friends?" He felt Mello tense against his side though neither of them stopped moving.

"What, you don't want to be friends?" Mello voice was void of emotion, though there was a chipped edge to the words. Matt suddenly felt so much smaller than he was.

"I thought it was you that didn't..." Matt trailed off and it wasn't until Mello spoke that he relaxed.

"I changed my mind. You're interesting. And I already told you, you can't do this on your own." though Matt was sure Mello was referring to more than his injured leg.

"I'd like to be your friend."

"Good, because I wasn't giving you a choice in the matter." and Matt smiled, a smile so wide his face hurt.

The two of them were near inseparable after that. Where one was, the other was also. Though there were occasions where Mello wandered off on his own leaving Matt by himself; though never for very long.

On one such occasion, weeks later, Matt ran into Rick.

"Well if it isn't the freak who stole my spot." Matt backed away from the older boy and made to turn back the way he came when he was grabbed by his shirt and slammed into the wall. He let out a small whimper but was otherwise silent.

Rick had been third, and then Matt had 'taken' his spot. It wasn't Matt's fault, it wasn't as though he'd known the boy had been third, or he might have made an effort not to place it.

"You know the only reason Mello even bothers with you is because you took my spot so quickly. Once you loose your usefulness you're going to be thrown to the side. And I'm going to be there, watching, laughing."

Rick was leaning in so close that it made Matt squirm in distaste.

"You are just Mello's pet, his dog."

Matt shrank as far back as the wall would allow him and tried not to think about what the older boy was saying. He was wrong, he was Mello's friend, not his pet.

And Mello would never get rid of him, right? The blonde was happy with being his friend, at least he seemed so. He was already so attached to Mello and if Mello suddenly decided he didn't want to be his friend...

Rick smirked as all the different emotions danced across the younger ones eyes. It was so easy to put doubt into there heads, and with the redhead worrying about his friendship his grades would slip-

"Hey, get the heck away from him!" Matt was released as Rick rounded on the blonde owner of the voice. "And just what do you think you can do?"

"Me? Nothing, but once Rodger rounds that corner he'll throw your ass out of here." Mello smirked as the sound of shoes echoed in the silent hallway. Rick swore and with one last glance at the two of them took off.

"Thanks Mello." Matt watched as another child walked around the corner instead of Rodger and smiled slightly at Mello's bluff.

"What would you have done if he had waited?" Matt asked curiously. Mello smirked. "Grabbed you and run like hell. I'm not stupid; I know I can't beat him." Mello motioned for him to follow as he started down the hallway.

And Matt did.

Matt knew with all certainty, that he would never beat Mello in anything. He would stay third so he could keep his friend. His very first friend. The _only_ person in his life so far that had showed and proven that they cared for him.

That didn't think him worthless, and that looked after him.

If Mello ever became first, then Matt would become second. Always one step behind his friend. Because that was all he'd ever wanted. A friend. And now that he had one, he would do whatever it took to keep him. The title of L be damned.

Being third wouldn't be so bad; he'd never liked too much attention anyway.

But even as he thought this... he wondered again if Mello wanted to _stay _his friend.

"We'll always be friends, right?" the tiny redhead asked, almost afraid of the answer.

"Of course, don't be stupid." Mello said while rolling his eyes and opening a chocolate bar that he wasn't supposed to have, being banned from chocolate _again_.

Matt smiled, the gap in front teeth showing proudly.

Matt was, probably for the first time in his short life, happy. And no matter what happened, he knew that somehow, he and Mello would always be friends.

Because Mello said so.

**-End _Whammys_-**

**AN:** OMG. This took forever. But I got it done. And isn't Matt's last line 'awww' worthy? _Because Mello said so_. Heh.

So........ Tell me what you think.

Also, I am tacking on a few oneshots to this one, such as Matt getting his first pair of goggles. So keep a look out, I have them planned but not yet written. Those ones will NOT be as long as this one. I refuse to let them.

Review? Please????


	2. Part Two: Games

**Disclaimer**: Still don't own Death Note... hasn't changed since I first started writing and won't ever. T^T

**AN**: Yay so I finally finished this! I haven't even begun work on the final oneshot so I'm not sure when that one will be out, as I am now working on my new multi-chaptered fic which I haven't posted yet.

**Suggested Listening**: Gummy Bear Song (do _not _ask me why I have this on my computer.... blame Shinra'sCrazyTurk...)

**Part Two**: _Games _

Matt had never been overly fond of Christmas before; mainly because nothing good had ever happened to him on it, but with all the multi colored lights and streams of garland and mistletoe that transformed the hallways and even the classrooms, he found himself slightly awe struck. It had never been like this at his own home. And certainly not this grand... and it wasn't even Christmas day yet!

Though he wasn't sure why that excited him. He wasn't expecting any gifts, though maybe it would be enough when Mello saw the huge chocolate bar he got him...

Yes, he decided, it would be enough.

It hadn't been hard to get money for the chocolate either. At Whammys, each of them was given a bank account that was filled with however much money, and if one had a good reason for needing money either the item would just be provided or in the case one were buying for a birthday or holiday the money would be extracted from the account.

Matt was sure he wouldn't miss the money he'd spent. From what he'd been told, he could probably buy something worth a hundred dollars everyday until he was a hundred and still not be close to running out of money. But that was just a rumor he'd heard. Surely there wasn't that much money floating around...?

"Hey Matt."

Matt looked up from his laptop, which hadn't quite worked right since it was knocked off the table, and at Mello. Who was eating something _not _made of chocolate; Matt couldn't help it, he stared.

"What?" the blonde said around the candy cane. Though the coloring was a bit off, it was white with brown and green stripes rather than the normal red and white.

"Are you banned from chocolate again?" Mello's cheeks colored for a moment before he glared at Matt as he snapped off a piece of the hard candy.

"It wasn't my fault Rodger heard me calling him an old geezer... and this is the chocolate flavored kind so it's sort of the same." Matt sighed and shook his head. Honestly, the things Mello did.

"Whatever, I don't care. Not even Rodger can ruin today or tomorrow." Mello smirked and flopped across Matt's bed instead of his own. "Why is that?" Mello looked at him as though he were out of his mind.

"Are you serious? Please tell me that you have noticed that today is Christmas Eve right? Which means that tomorrow is Christmas." Mello had sat up and had a huge grin on his face, his voice was alight with excitement.

"I know that." Matt mumbled quietly. How could he have forgotten?

"Then why aren't you more... I don't know, happy? You know about the special dinner we get tonight, and I can't wait to see what I got tomorrow! I think I know what it is, but the wait is still driving me crazy..."

"Why are you so sure you're going to get something?" he asked. Matt and Mello had never really spoken about what happened at Christmas, just that at Whammy's it was celebrated.

"What are you talking about? Everyone always gets something! Mr. Whammy always makes sure everyone has at least one gift, though he puts it 'From Santa'. Honestly if anyone actually believes that I'll give up chocolate." Mello sucked on the end of the candy cane and as an after thought added; "for a week."

But Matt hadn't paid attention to that part.

"So even I'll get something?" he asked in what he hoped was his normal voice. Mello raised an eyebrow and nodded. "Sure, why wouldn't you?"

Matt shrugged but couldn't help the tiny smile tugging at his lips. He was going to get to open something. He didn't care what it was, just that he wasn't left out. That he couldn't be called worthless and...

He stopped those thoughts. They weren't the sort of things he wanted to remember, ever, and especially with Mello watching him so intently.

Going to Whammys was definitely the best thing that had happened to him in his short life thus far. And he wasn't even talking about the material things...

"Want to play checkers?" Mello asked him suddenly.

It was rare that Mello wanted to do much other than study, and even rarer that he would do something on the laptop with Matt. Matt pulled up the game as his answer and Mello laughed while tossing the candy wrapper in the trash bin.

"You like playing these games, don't you?" Mello questioned him. Matt nodded and moved the laptop so that both of them could equally view the screen. It was odd, for the past few weeks Mello kept asking him if he liked games.

It wasn't that he disliked them, but he was kind of bored with the ones on the computer. He would have to ask if he could somehow get better ones.

"Prepare to lose." Mello said with a grin. Matt smiled and made his first move. Mello could never beat him on the computer. No matter how much they played.

Matt wasn't sure for how long they played, since they had both been having too much fun to stop, but it had grown dark in the room signaling that dinner was near.

"We'll miss dinner if we don't end it here... besides, I'm rather tired of loosing." Mello said with a frown, as though the word 'loosing' actually tasted bad to him. And maybe it did.

"If you practiced more you might win." Mello rolled his eyes at the redhead. "There are more important things to do than beat you at checkers and pinball." Matt was sure Mello was thinking of studying so he knew better than to argue.

He turned just in time to see Mello tucking something red back underneath his shirt. He had seen the same thing many times before, but had never asked Mello what it was. If Mello wanted him to know, then he would.

"Dinner?" Matt asked quietly. Mello, for all his excitement about Christmas, also seemed to be hiding something. Matt wasn't sure what exactly, he didn't think it was bad, but _something_. Anytime the day was mentioned Mello got this look in his eyes that said he wanted to say something, but he never did.

"Yeah, we should go. The food will be great, you'll love it." and Mello had been right.

The entire dining hall had been transformed and was completely taken over by the spirit of the holidays. It was apparently the only holiday that anyone ever really got into. Though Mello liked Halloween for obvious reasons.

During his stay at Whammys, which was just under a year, Matt had gotten used to the food but the dinner that was prepared that night was indeed something special. Matt thought that he wouldn't mind eating like this more than once a year.

They even had special deserts made. Matt laughed quietly at Mello's wide eyed expression as he saw the amount of chocolate ones. Matt decided that he probably wouldn't mind Christmas so much if it was always like this.

Everyone ate until they were stuffed before they were shooed from the dining hall so cleaning could begin.

Feeling happy and full they made their way back to their room. Despite how early it still was, Matt changed into his night clothes while Mello searched for something to wear. Matt smirked at the blonde, honestly, he couldn't seem to be organized to save his life.

Or clean, if one looked at the amount of chocolate wrappers on the floor. But Matt didn't mind so much, as long as they didn't migrate to his side of the room.

Matt wanted to play on the computer, despite how oddly it now worked, but after the fifth yawn he gave up and threw back his covers. Though he knew he wouldn't be sleeping anytime soon if Mello kept wandering around and stepping on wrappers.

"Mello, if you don't get to sleep you will be too tired in the morning." Mello pouted before placing his half eaten candy on the table and crawling under his covers. Matt smirked and turned off his light and had just enough time to get settled before Mello switched his own off.

"Night Mello." he mumbled softly while shifting further under the warm blankets. "Goodnight Matt." Matt smiled. It may not always seem like it, but he really had the best friend anyone could ever ask for.

With those thoughts dancing across his brain he slowly drifted off...

"Matt wake up!" blinking a few times, Matt came face to face with Mello who was hovering over him. "Come on, get dressed!" yawning the redhead complied, leaving the warmth of his bed and hurrying to dress himself in the cool room.

"Why are we up so early?" he yawned again after seeing the clock. Mello rolled his eyes as he yanked his shirt over his head. "Because it's Christmas!" Matt nodded though it didn't really answer his question as to why they were up _before_ the sun.

"Let's go, trust me you thank me for waking you." Mello then grabbed his arm and dragged him from their room. Matt sighed as he ran to keep from being _literally _dragged by the excited blonde.

Matt recognized the hallway, despite them all being similar, and knew it to be the way to the common room. He supposed that made sense, since it would have been odd to have everyone gather in the dining hall. Though he wondered if anyone else was actually awake at this time…

His question was answered the moment they walked into the room.

The common room was huge, but it seemed even larger now despite all the children and decorations that filled it. The large, towering tree stood proudly in the corner of the room, just beyond the fireplace.

It was decorated with at least one hand made ornament from each child and various other trinkets and rows of garland and lights. At the very top was a large shinny star that lit up every once and a while to a bright yellow.

Matt had seen it more than once, but never with the lights on. The picture was completed now with all the gifts wrapped in shiny paper and covered with tags and ribbons that sat under the tree. They had only been recently placed there, as there were some among the house who would have opened their gifts already had they been given the chance.

"Come on Matt!" Mello grabbed his hand and dragged him towards the tree but made sure to avoid the small albino child who sat patiently on the floor off to the side. Mello had never liked him, and Matt had never asked why.

All the children sat down in various areas around the tree, and only once everyone had at least once thing were they allowed to start opening their gifts. The room was bathed in noise and Matt found it a bit overwhelming.

Thankfully Mello hadn't wanted to stay with all the others and they ended up in the furthest corner of the room opposite the tree. Mello had ended up with two presents. One from Mr. Whammy and the other from Matt.

Matt had been surprised with three presents. Two from Mr. Whammy, and one that had really surprised him, one from Mello.

Matt opened the heavier of the two boxes from Mr. Whammy first. He smiled in excitement as he saw a new computer. The note attached said 'to replace the one 'accidently' broken.' As though he'd known his had been messed up during one of Mello's fits.

As he was opening his second gift he was interrupted by Mello finally getting his box open. He pulled out a jet black jacket with a grin. "I knew it!" Mello said while holding it close and touching the soft fabric with his fingertips.

"I've been wanting this for a while but they wouldn't let me buy it, I had a feeling that it might show up for my birthday or Christmas." Matt nodded but his excitement had quickly faded. Honestly, his gift was inadequate compared to the jacket... it had been a stupid idea...

Before he even noticed however, Mello had begun unwrapping his last gift. The one Matt had gotten for him. Matt cringed as the last of the paper was torn off but stilled as Mello's whole face lit up at the sight of the large bar of chocolate.

"Do you have any idea how expensive this stuff is? Rodger _never _lets me get it, even for myself! This is the best, thanks Matt." Matt felt better at that, and there was no way Mello was lying as he hadn't known any of Matt's worries.

He watched curiously as Mello wrapped the chocolate gently in his new jacket and stored both away in one of the boxes. He was confused. Usually Mello would have been all over the chocolate by now.

"Don't give me that look... I happen to like to savor the good stuff. Not the cheap stuff they force me to eat all the time." Matt grinned. It was rather amusing that Mello should say he's 'forced' to eat chocolate. But he didn't comment.

"Well, open yours." Mello said while pushing the last box closer to Matt. Naturally Mello wanted to watch him open it, it was from him.

The box was small, and clumsily wrapped; though Matt supposed that was probably due to the lack of patience Mello had for anything that wasn't studying. Or chocolate.

Matt was unable to fully hold in the small gasp at what was inside. That was the last thing he had expected, he was rather... surprised. It was a Gameboy.

"Do you like it? I mean I wasn't sure what to get you..." Matt could hear how unsure Mello was and managed a small smile despite the memories swarming his brain.

"I've never played one before. I was never allowed." Mello's eyes widened at the admission.

"Never?" Matt nodded though he couldn't help the way his smile grew larger.

"I've always wanted to though... thank you." Matt looked up and Mello smiled back.

In all, Matt thought, that he rather enjoyed Christmas despite his previous years of disappointment with the day.

They had returned to their room the moment they had been allowed to, wanting nothing more than to relax away from the other children who were getting a little too loud.

Mello had settled down on his bed and taken a small piece from his new chocolate before getting out a book, that for once had nothing to do with studying.

Matt however, wasn't on his new computer as was to be expected, instead opting to try out the small handheld. Mello had also gotten him a few games to play on it. One being something called Tetris, which he was currently attempting to play.

He had gotten so absorbed in the little falling blocks that he didn't notice Mello glaring at him from across the room.

Mello had gotten Matt the game since it seemed like something he might enjoy, as the redhead spent all his time playing away at minesweeper on the computer. But it seemed he had forgotten one thing.

Games are noisy.

Matt had immediately settled down and began playing but it seemed that the sound effects and music weren't reaching his ears as the volume hadn't been turned down at all. Over the past _three hours_.

It was rather difficult to read when all one could hear were constant beeps and blaring music. Mello honestly began to wonder why the hell he had bought that. But the look on Matt's face when he had seen it... and even now while playing it…

He was so much more relaxed, and Mello had never even seen him concentrate so hard on his studies as he was that game. He wanted to know why Matt had seemed almost as sad as he had been happy when he first opened it. But it had to do with his life outside of Whammys, or his previous one at any rate, so he would probably never know.

If Matt could deal with him leaving chocolate wrappers everywhere, then Mello supposed he could deal with the sound effects. It wasn't like Matt was going to suddenly become addicted to the thing anyway.

Right?

**-End _Games_-**

**AN: **So how was that? I rather liked the ending. Hehehe. Mello you created a monster! ^_^ One more oneshot to go and then the WSF universe comes to a close. (by the time I post it JNRR will have been completed)

What did everyone think?

Review?


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